Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Money and Power Prevail - $30 Land Deal Approved at Illegal Public Hearing

The re-submitted plan for the $30 Land Deal project was approved by the Arvada city council by a vote of 6-to-1, Monday, March 19, 2018.

Money and Power in Arvada, Colorado

Grassroots Citizens are Put Back in Their Place

Like a classic Greek tragedy, the ultimate outcome was evident to anyone who has followed the saga of expanding government and corporate power in the United States over recent years.

A momentary lapse of indolence caused by a supremely arrogant attitude that they could never lose, caused a setback for the Arvada Urban Renewal Authority when at the Preliminary Development Plan public hearing of January 22, 2018, the city council rejected the $30 Land Deal proposal by a 4-to-3 vote.

However, instead of accepting the will of the council majority, by January 24, the Urban Renewal Authority was contriving to immediately bring back the plan and had already started exerting pressure on the wayward council members to get back on board the corporate development gravy train.

A sore loser who schemes to play the game over again with new rules that make a win for them inevitable is the most contemptible loser of all. Such is the Arvada Urban Renewal Authority and their elitist, self-important sponsors.

Thus we have now witnessed in Arvada a rare instance when grassroots citizens – without money, without professional staff, without lobbyists – were able to gain a victory over entrenched special interests. Tragically, the accomplishment was temporary and fleeting – corporate money and institutional power is not to be denied.

Arvada for All the People will continue to advocate for government reform in our city, if enacted our Action Agenda for Arvada would indeed bring more democracy, openness, accountability and fiscal responsibility to our community. We will persevere.